summertime

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by sofbrooked

by sofbrooked

season two

"First place..." an announcer says, "Reagan Gallagher!". The audience cheers for the girl as she makes her way up to the center of the floor. She grabs the bouquet of ribbons and has a gold medal placed around her neck as she steps onto the tallest podium with a 1 on it.

She has a picture taken of her and parents start rushing their way towards crying kids or towards the children who placed at least in top ten. Reagan wanted to comfort them, but she couldn't. She wasn't allowed to. She just had to smile.

"You won Nationals, Rae!" Ian exclaims and hugs her tightly. She gives her older brother a smile and takes his hand as they leave the auditorium.

It was Summer, but everything was different. Reagan had convinced Kev to let her pick up a job at the bar, Lip and Karen were over, Debbie was pregnant, and Frank wasn't Rae's father.

"Are you alright?" Carl asks, concerned for his twin sister. Reagan says, "I'm fine. Uh, I guess I'll meet you both at home.". She pulls out her earphones and puts a song on the ipod lip had given her. She wasn't sure if he even bought it.

i walked across an empty land
i knew the pathway like the back of my hand
i felt the earth beneath my feet
say by the river and it made me complete

oh simple thing where have you gone?
i'm getting old and i need something to rely on
so tell me when you're gonna let me in
i'm getting tired and i need somewhere to begin

"Hey, Rae!" Gio says. He's sitting on a fallen tree behind the Alibi. She smiles and puts the electronic in her pocket. Reagan sits behind him and pecks him in the cheek.

He smiles and asks, "how are you?". Gio had just gotten back from New York. He spent every June in Washington Heights with his father. "Debbie's really stressed out lately and Fiona's making it worse." Reagan tells him. She says, "I think Lip is in love with your sister and Ian and Carl are the only ones paying any attention to me.".

"No. I asked how are you." Gio reminds her. She looks confused. "Me?" she says, "I'm fine. I actually slept a full night last night.".

Gio says, "empty your pockets". Reagan scoffs and says, "that is not a part of our deal!". The boy reaches into her sweater pocket. He reveals a granola bar in his hand and asks, "did you at least eat breakfast?"

"I... I wasn't hungry, okay?" Reagan says, looking at the ground. Gio grabs her hand and says, "I'm trying to help you.". He opens the wrapper and hands the bar back to her. "I have to go, G." she says, but takes a bite before walking away.

Once she's around the corner she leans over a trash can and spits it out. It was the can in her front yard, so Fiona asks, "You okay, Rae?". Reagan freezes up and says, "Yeah! It was just... gum.".

Reagan jogs up the stairs and runs to the kitchen where Debbie is. The fifteen year old has one hand rested on her swollen stomach and her other holding a cup of water. "So you're keeping it?" Reagan asks. She didn't know how to talk to her older sister anymore. Everyone had changed.
Everything had changed.

"It's not a thing, Reagan! She's a living thing." Debbie says, lecturing the young girl. Carl sees his twin getting red faced. Embarrassed. He says, "Well it looks like an alien. Fiona's right.".

Debbie had separated herself from the family, but by doing that, the twins had became closer. The flame had gotten stronger. Nobody could explain why, but everyone knew that nothing would ever be the same.

"Rae, wanna come watch me get beat up?" Lip asks curiously. Reagan's face lights up, but Debbie interrupts. "Liam was up all night banging his head on the wall. I'm exhausted!".

"And you still want a baby?" Lip asks confused. Debbie says, "I'm a woman. Liam is a boy! He should be in with the boys!".

Ian walks in from the living room and says, "No way! It's packed already.". Fiona puts in her opinion. She says, "Rae could move in with Debs. That way she would have her own room because Debbie is not taking care of a baby under my roof.".

Reagan's jaw drops and Lip exclaims, "Reagan is not switching rooms! She's always shared a room with us. Plus, she still has nightmares.". The red haired girl kicks her brother in the shin for saying that and she asks, "Can we go watch Lip get beat up now?".